Mobile payment systems allow individuals and merchants to accept debit and credit cards on their smartphone, tablet, or other mobile computing device. Some mobile payment systems include a payment card reader that reads and transmits payment card information to a connected mobile computing device. These payment card readers may read payment cards of various types. For example, some payment card readers may read magnetic stripes, integrated circuits, near field communication chips, or the like. In many cases, communication protocols for reading and communicating with the various types of payment cards are defined in one or more standards.
Communication protocols defined by these standards are typically implemented by device and/or component manufacturers. Therefore, many implementations of a standard may exist, and not all implementations achieve the same result. Additionally, standards can change over time, making devices and/or components designed for previous versions of the standard unusable for newer implementations. Moreover, there are often more specific standards developed that are based on a broader, general standard, making devices and components designed for the general standard incompatible with the more specific standard.
The figures depict various embodiments of the techniques described herein for purposes of illustration only. It should be readily recognized from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the techniques described herein.